Race and Access to Food Video

This video examines the relationship between race, income and food access. I hope you enjoy.

Obesity and Access to Food

Yesterday I spent some time talking about the fact that many Americans live in areas that are designated as food deserts where they struggle to find access to grocery stores. Today I wanted to look into this a bit more by bringing in obesity and seeing if there truly is a relationship between living in a food desert and likelihood of being obese. Here is what I found.

I will start again with a map of the food deserts in order to provide a solid reference point.

And here is a map of obesity trends across the country.

These maps do not show a perfect overlap, but it definitely suggests a relationship between struggling to find food and being obese. This map seem counter-intuitive. Wouldn't being further from food sources indicate people would be less obese? 

No. Regardless of location everybody has to eat, but being further from grocery stores simply affects what gets eaten. When it is really challenging to purchase healthy foods, people sometimes choose the ease of shopping at closer convenience stores which are full of options that have less nutritional value. When actually making it to a grocery store, people living in food deserts may purchase items that last longer and many of these items are typically less healthy than items that go bad more quickly.

This is an unfortunate problem in the country because it is extremely complex. For decades American obesity rates have been rising, but in some areas it simply is not economically feasible to build supermarkets. This may be one of the more subtle contributing factors to the trend of urbanization in the United States; people move to cities as they become frustrated with their nutritional struggles. 

American Food Deserts

Today is Sunday and as usual I was running low on food. Conveniently, Sunday also tends to be the day that I am able to go grocery shopping. So I made the simple decision to get dressed, grab my keys and head to Whole Foods. I live in Worcester and the nearest Whole Foods is in Framingham about 40 minutes away. I had plenty of time to think about food during the long car ride and at first I felt annoyed that there is no Whole Foods in Worcester. I know that the food there is expensive, but I really think that it is worth it to pay a little extra to make sure that you are getting great quality food. And then I thought more about how many Whole Foods are in the country in general. This is what I found.

I know this map may seem cluttered, but notice how huge sections of the country are missing a Whole Foods location. I am not suggesting that Whole Foods locations are the only measure of nutritional value access, but this figure hints at a broader issue.

Throughout the country, there are many places that are located 20, 30 miles or even further from the nearest grocery store. People living here need to drive upwards of a half hour to shop for food! I know that on a hot summer day like today I worry on my 40 minute drive that my food may not all last in the car, but imagine what it is like to have no other choice. Not to mention that in some of these areas, many people also do not have car access. In such areas, sometimes the only possible sources of food are found at gas stations and convenience stores that are usually stocked with expensive snacks and few healthy options.

These areas are known as food deserts. Most people that I know cannot imagine that this is possible because Massachusetts is so densely populated that most people need to travel no more than 3 or 4 miles to the nearest grocery store. But here is a map of the United States from the US Department of Agriculture showing areas formally designated as food deserts. 

Areas highlighted in green represent food deserts. Notice how the two maps compare. Areas with Whole Foods Markets tend to be far away from designated food deserts. And again notice that in New England there are almost no food deserts compared to most other parts of the country. The more rural the area, the more likely that residents do not have access to supermarkets. This has dramatic implications when it comes to obesity, diabetes and just health in general. 

Stay tuned for a post about how access to food options is an important factor in reducing obesity rates.